


Lull in the Storm

by Neon_Zephyr



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Early Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:50:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3497363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neon_Zephyr/pseuds/Neon_Zephyr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Storms had a way of changing one's plans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lull in the Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Buradorei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buradorei/gifts).



> A third prompt requested by Buradorei. This one's pretty much just early-relationship Kannao fluff.
> 
> This also takes place in the summer between Arena/Ultimax and the Golden Epilogue.

Naoto pulled the hoodie on over the loose T-shirt, tugging at the sleeves and bottom edge until it was more or less on comfortably. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom’s mirror. She sighed.

Part of her still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to this. Sure, the forecasted rain had suddenly turned into a zero-visibility thunderstorm with no signs of letting up anytime soon. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t walk home from Kanji’s. She’d been out in worse, and while chasing an armed suspect.

But, she knew from experience that, if she had, he would have only worried the rest of the night. And, she’d prefer to get at least some sleep, instead of being up all night texting him in reassurance.

Besides, it wasn’t as if she’d be spending the night in the same bed; Kanji had mentioned that, while the guest room wasn’t really set up, he had his old futon he could use, while she slept in his bed.

She’d attempted to insist that she didn’t have any sleep clothes, but he’d fished out and handed her an old set of his, and his purple hoodie, before she’d even finished her sentence. Defeated—and, admittedly, quite tired—she’d simply accepted them and started off for the bathroom. They might have been several years old, probably from when Kanji’d been in middle school, but they were still a little large on her small frame. The hoodie was definitely too big for her; Kanji’d only stopped wearing it for the season a few weeks back, around the beginning of their relationship. She held the sleeve up to her nose—lavender and citrus, obviously the detergent and softener he’d used, and something else she couldn’t quite place. Maybe his scent? She wasn’t quite familiar with it, yet. They weren’t quite to the point of close enough contact for her to get that acquainted with it.

She looked in the mirror again. At least the bagginess of the clothes on her generally small frame did well in minimizing certain traits. She was very fond of Kanji and trusted him dearly—both of which were well-established points by now—but she was still very nervous about having everything… out in the open, as it were.

And, she knew that it might make him even more nervous than he likely already was. He nearly leapt out of his skin on the couple of times they’d held hands—usually by her initiative. He was likely a wreck at that very moment, in his room, either setting up or lying on his old futon, from the thought of how he was about to spend a night in the same room as her.

To be completely and fairly honest, she knew that she was nearly as terrified as he was.

They weren’t sharing the same bed, she reminded herself. They were just sharing a room—and that only because Kanji would never make Naoto take the couch when a better option for her existed, and because Naoto would never let Kanji do the same just for her.

She stood there for a long moment, toes curling and uncurling in her socks. The rain beating against the side of the house was the only thing breaking the silence, occasionally joined by a roll of thunder as the storm rolled through Inaba. The crashes were gradually growing louder; the storm was presumably headed straight for the Shopping District.

Perhaps Kanji had been right to refuse to let her walk home, after all.

Regardless, she was getting cold standing in the bathroom. She gathered up her school uniform, folding it in a half-hearted manner, before carrying it with her back into the bedroom.

She hesitated at the closed door for a moment, before knocking twice. When she got no reply, she gingerly opened it and slipped inside the dark room.

Kanji had set the futon up as far from the bed as he could manage, nearly against the opposite wall. He was bundled up in it, only his head visible, turned to the side on the pillow. He appeared to be asleep already, his covered torso moving slightly with each breath. His phone was lying on the futon, just in front of his face.

“Kanji?” She kept her voice low, in case he truly was asleep.

He muttered something incoherent and shifted under his covers, but didn’t wake.

Naoto couldn’t help but smile. He’d fallen asleep during Team meetings and study sessions before. Much like those times, his expression was calm and relaxed in a manner that he normally didn’t present while awake. His peacefulness eased some of the tension that had been building in the base of her neck and in her chest.

Carefully, so as to make as little noise as possible, she walked over to her bag—placing her clothes down next to it—then towards the bed. She wondered briefly how Kanji even fit on it normally—the bed was certainly long enough, and appeared significantly wide enough, for someone of his size, but in addition to the normal pillow—cased in a pale lavender—there were a number of other, decorative pillows and stuffed and knitted animals—likely mostly, if not entirely, crafted by him. She picked up a pink alligator, inspecting various points of the stitching and the dark blue button eyes. She’d heard one of the local housewives discuss a similar toy Kanji had made her son a few months back; perhaps this had been a prototype, or he’d decided that he liked it so much that he wanted one as well?

Naoto placed it down near the pillow. She pulled herself into the bed with some effort—it sat a little higher off the ground than either her bed at her apartment or at the estate—and somehow managed to find her way under the blankets—including a pale green sheet and a dark purple-and-blue quilt—without disturbing the plush residents.

It took a while for the blankets to keep hold of her body heat, but she noted immediately how soft everything was in his bed.

The comfort did little to help her to sleep however. No matter what position she lay in, she couldn’t quite drift off.

Then, the storm started to roll through the District. While Naoto was far too old to be scared of storms—and mostly certainly was not—it also did little to help lull her to sleep. She’d finally be comfortable and able to keep her eyes closed and breath steady, when a loud crash would echo around the house, jolting her back out of it again. She wasn’t sure how long it’d lasted before she’d finally grown past irritated with the situation.

Kanji, she’d noted upon leaning up slightly to look at him, hadn’t moved at all since she’d come in, still cuddled firmly on his side, facing away from her, almost completely under his blanket.

An idea formed in her head, one she pushed away immediately at first but slowly started to appreciate as it kept reforming. She looked at Kanji again. The very idea in her mind, just the idea _existing_ there, made her heart pound against her ribs and her face flush. But.

But, the extra warmth might help her sleep, which was preferable to the alternative at this point—she didn’t want to go through a day of class without sleep again. And, they _were_ dating. It wasn’t as if she wanted something… forward; thus, it wasn’t wholly inappropriate, right?

Right?

There was only one way to find out. She pulled out her cellphone, quickly tapping out a message.

_R U AWAKE?_

A short moment later, and she heard the soft sound of Kanji’s phone receiving the text. He groaned in response, turning over to his back, holding the phone above his face. One hand covered his eyes—likely to shield from the light—before he flipped it open. He flinched visibly from the frankly excessive illumination it shone in his face, directly towards his eyes. Eventually, however, he seemed to be able to read the message. He glanced over at her, before looking back at his phone and typing a reply. Naoto read it instantly when it arrived a second later.

_I am now. What’s up?_

Guilt swirled in her stomach. Maybe she shouldn’t have disturbed him. Still, what was done was done, so she might as well move forward. Before she chickened out.

_CAN’T SLEEP._

She sent a second one right after.

_CAN I JOIN U?_

She looked over at him. He blinked at the messages for a long minute, making a light grunt of confusion, until they seemed to sink in to him, and his face turned red, visible even in his phone’s distant light. He shuffled for a moment, clearly trying to avoid looking at her, before sending a reply.

_Uh. I mean. I’m just in my underwear here._

Naoto blinked a couple of times.

Was that a no? Was he uncomfortable with the idea of her joining him, then? Or, was he simply telling her that as a fact, so that she could decide what she was comfortable with? She looked over at him, but he was still avoiding her gaze.

Maybe if she repeated the question, he’d give her a more direct answer?

_CAN I JOIN U?_

In the moments before he received the message, the soft surroundings of Kanji’s bed suddenly felt very cold to her. She trembled slightly, burying herself further.

He looked at the message for a long moment, before putting the phone down without replying.

Naoto felt a chill run down her back. What did that mean? Her trembling worsened. She wasn’t sure why there was a sharp pain in her chest now, not in any manner she wanted to consciously acknowledge tonight, but she buried herself even further in response. By now, all that was visible of her from under the blankets was from her eyes up.

_Is that a no?_

Before Naoto could form another thought, however, Kanji turned to face her and pushed himself backwards to the side of the futon. He lifted the blanket with one arm, and silently held it there expectantly.

It took a moment for the action’s meaning to register in Naoto’s mind. The heat returned to her face, but Naoto quickly pulled herself out of his bed, stumbling slightly across the room to the futon. She knelt down, looking him in the eye for a moment, before they both sharply looked away. With their close proximity, and with the blanket lifted, she could see that he certainly hadn’t been lying before; he was only wearing a pair of black boxer briefs, having discarded even his socks to sleep. She looked at him, the heat in her face building further, to see that his face was equally red. But, he still held the blanket up for her, and didn’t make any indication that he wasn’t all right with this, despite their shared embarrassment.

Naoto gingerly slid under the blanket. She froze when their faces nearly collided, their gazes locking automatically for a split second. She looked away first, turning over to her other side, facing away from him.

Maybe this was too much, too fast.

She felt his arm slowly—gingerly—wrap itself gently around her, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder. The touch had brought his body a bit closer to hers. As expected, he was very warm against her, his breath gentle against the back of her head.

Unexpectedly, those two things made the tension melt instead of build, as she felt her body begin to relax again. After a few seconds, she felt something press against the back of her head for a brief moment.

Had he…?

“’Night,” she heard him say softly, just before his breathing slipped back into the steady rhythm of sleep. She smiled. She was a little jealous of how easily he could fall asleep.

She listened to the sound of the storm slowly roll away, the gentle beating of rain against the window, until she finally joined him in slumber.


End file.
